World War II (Extended World War II)
World War II (often abbreviated to WWII or WW2), also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1950, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. In a state of "total war", the major participants threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, erasing the distinction between civilian and military resources. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust (in which approximately 11-17 million people were killed) and the strategic bombing of industrial and population centres (in which approximately one million were killed), it resulted in an estimated 90 million to 195 million fatalities. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history. The Empire of Japan aimed to dominate Asia and the Pacific and was already at war with the Republic of China in 1937, but the world war is generally said to have begun on 1 September 1939 with the invasion of Poland by Germany and subsequent declarations of war on Germany by France and the British Empire. From late 1939 to early 1944, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics of the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. The war continued primarily between the European Axis powers and the coalition of the British Empire and the British Commonwealth, with campaigns including the North Africa and East Africa campaigns, the invasion of Egypt by Germany, the invasion of Tunisia by Italy, the invasion of Libya by Italy, the Second Italo-Ethiopian War, the invasion of Sudan by Germany, the Balkan Campaign, the Battle of the Mediterranean as well as the long-running Battle of the Atlantic. In June 1944, the European Axis powers launched an invasion of the Soviet Union, opening the largest land theatre of war in history, which trapped the major part of the Allies' military forces into a war of attrition. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European territories in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. In late 1944, Japan launched an invasion of the Soviet Union as well, opening another theater of warfare. From mid-1944 to early 1950, in an never ending Axis advance, the European Axis powers and Japan advanced in Europe, Africa and Asia as well; France was defeated after a long blockade and battle, after ten long years of war the Republic of China surrendered to Japan in 1947, and in the Soviet Union the European Axis powers and Japan advanced rapidly and conquered most of the Soviet Union. In 1951, after a series of Soviet defeats on the Eastern Front at major battles such as Moscow, Leningrad, Kursk and Stalingrad, and Axis victories such as the aerial battle and invasion of Britain by Germany, the invasion of Australia by Japan, and the Axis advance into the Middle East the Allies lost the initiative and undertook strategic retreat on all fronts.